UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, April 7, 2023

Albanian Language Media:

• QUINT expresses to Kurti full commitment to "unconditional" implementation of the agreement (Koha)
• Osmani answers to PCK about nomination of chief prosecutor, accuses of illegal pressure (Koha)
• Gervalla: I expect that Greece will soon move towards recognition (media)
• Jablanovic on elections in the north: Serbian List silence scares me a lot (media)
• The "head of the Association" - Vucic's politician who demanded Kurti's sanctioning (Albanian Post)
• Kosovo ex-guerrilla ordered to pay war victims €207,000 (Prishtina Insight)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic after meeting with representatives of Serbs from KiM: Joint platform in seven days (N1)
• Vucic: Kosovo will be in Serbia during my term, ask someone else after that (Tanjug, RTS, media)
• The final list of voters for the local elections in the north of Kosovo established (Beta, NMagazin, RTS)
• Oathkeepers leader schedules emergency meeting of Committee on KiM (Beta, N1)
• Four opposition parties demand from Serbian public broadcaster to read out European plan publicly (Radio KIM)
• Vucic: Serbia to boost presence in Africa (Tanjug)
• Apostolic Nuncio Gangemi: Holy See remains principled in its stance on Kosovo (RTS, Kosovo Online)
• Ahmetaj: Families of missing persons should be guaranteed right to know through all domestic and international legal remedies (KoSSev)
• Albanian PM: Serbia slowly surrendering to reality (FoNet, N1)

International:

• Serbia urged to uphold freedom of expression while also countering hate speech (news.un.org)

Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: The term of the April 4 agreement is "violently disappeared victims" (media)
• Bislimi: There are five criteria on which to see how suitable the Association is (Klan)
• Kurti: We are getting ready for the elections in the north (media)
• The Serbian List returns to the Assembly (Koha)
• Kurti about two years in government: There is a long list of quality changes (media)
• Hoti: The government intends to put independent institutions under control (media)
• Krasniqi to Kurti: Kosovo is being emptied, our country is being depopulated (media)
• The Special Court recommends to Kosovo to create mechanism for compensating victims (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic meets with US Senator Daines (Tanjug)
• Petkovic: Bislimi's pure lie about the five criteria for CSM (ZSO) (Twitter, Kosovo Online)
• Stano confirmed Missing Persons Declaration agreed (N1)
• Petkovic: The term 'forcibly disappeared' in the declaration on the missing is not a legal category (NMagazin, Beta)
• UN Security Council to discuss new report on UNMIK on April 27 (Tanjug)
• Vucic: I pointed out to bin Zayed what Belgrade can accept in dialogue with Pristina (Tanjug)
• Dacic: Kyrgyzstan will not change its position on non-recognition of Kosovo (FoNet, N1)
• Democracy in Action: Current circumstances do not allow holding free elections in the north of Kosovo (Beta, KiM radio)
• Changes in the top of the regional police in the north of Kosovo (RTS, Blic, KiM radio)
• Nova.rs: Vucic preparing a document on Kosovo for the Parliament (Danas)
• Vucic tomorrow with the political representatives of Serbs from Kosovo (Kosovo Online)
• Serbian List MPs show up in Kosovo Parliament after five months (Beta, N1, KoSSev)

International:

• Trial Panel I Orders Salih Mustafa to Pay €207,000 in Reparations to Victims (scp-ks.org)

Albanian Language Media:

• Borrell: Agreement on the missing, the first step in fulfilling the commitments (media)
• Lajcak and Chollet: Urgent implementation of agreements reached, necessary (RTK)
• KIA: exercises for destabilisation of north are being conducted in Raska (media)
• ‘I Expect Acquittal’: Thaçi Launches War Crimes Defence (Prishtina Insight)
• Finnish ambassador: We support Kosovo in its membership in EU, CIS and NATO (media)
• Hoxhaj: incidents in the north, Serbia's message of obstructing the agreement (Reporteri)
• Tahiri: Kurti government violated Kosovo's sovereignty by talking with Serbia about Association (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic meets with French Senate delegation (Tanjug, media)
• Sarazzin met Brnabic: Implementation of what was agreed in the dialogue is crucial (Beta, N1)
• Sarrazin: Association of Serb majority communities accepted in Pristina (KoSSev, N1)
• James Rubin: It is a time of great hope in the Balkans (N1)
• NATO: Stoltenberg in regular contact with Vucic (FoNet, N1)
• Milatovic: Not realistic for Montenegro to withdraw the recognition of Kosovo, and it is a matter that is very clear (KoSSev, nova.rs)
• Petkovic: Concrete steps to Community discussed for first time (Tanjug)
• People’s Party officials Jovanovic and Aleksic on initiating referendum on French-German agreement (KiM radio, Beta, Nova S)

International:

• Serbia, Kosovo Discuss Establishing Serb Municipalities Body (BIRN)
• War Crime Allegations ‘Absurd’, Kosovo Ex-Guerrilla Tells Court (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti met with emissaries of Germany and Austria for the Western Balkans (RTK)
• Chief negotiators in Brussels: Lajcak first meets Bislimi then Petkovic (Klan)
• Varheleyi meets Bislimi prior to the meeting in Brussels (Reporteri)
• Kurti meets Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (ekonomiaonline)
• Two years as President, Osmani: My guide remains the citizen’s and the Republic’s interest (media)
• Haradinaj: Kosovo has its place in NATO, next to its friends (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Dacic: Pristina will do all to obstruct formation of CSM (BETA, Blic, N1)
• Petkovic meets with Lajcak in Brussels (Tanjug)
• Lawyer: M.B. from Zubin Potok sent to one month detention (KoSSev, Radio KIM, RTS)
• Vucic: The pressure will continue, but Serbia knows how to fight (Politika, Tanjug)
• Brnabic meets with Atlantic Council delegation (Tanjug)
• Leader of the CI "For Zubin Potok'' on the current crisis in Kosovo (Danas)
• Mladenovic: Complain or interrupt the conference when there is no translation (KoSSev, Kontakt plus radio, UNS)
• Representatives of the Serbian List with special representatives for the Western Balkans, Sarazzin and Aigner (Radio Mitrovica sever, FB)

International:

• Thaci's Lawyers Say He Didn't Hold Command Power As Guerrilla Leader During Kosovo War (RFE)
• Trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci gets underway in The Hague (euronews)
• Serbia/Kosovo: Start of ex-Kosovo president’s trial for war crimes “an important step along the long road to justice” (amnesty.org)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, April 3, 2023

Albanian Language Media:

• Prosecutor says KLA not on trial: Only what four defendants have done (media)
• Rohde: It is not the KLA which is on trial (media)
• Abbott: Neither KLA nor Kosovo struggle for freedom is on trial (media)
• Rama on trial of KLA leaders: They fought against ethnic cleansing (media)
• PDK’s Hoxhaj certain of innocence of former KLA leaders (EO)
• AAK’s Tahiri: Two years of Kurti government most difficult for the country (EO)
• President Osmani appoints Donika Kadaj-Bujupi as advisor (media)
• UN Rapporteur: More progress needed; Assembly should adopt code of ethics (EO)

Serbian Language Media:

• Prosecutor: We will prove that Thaci and others are guilty of crimes in Kosovo and Albania (KiM radio, Beta, media)
• Tensions in the north of Kosovo should not affect the continuation of the dialogue, according to Stano (Radio Free Europe)
• Who threw an explosive device at Kosovo police and set fire to cars of Serbs who re-registered vehicles from Serbian to Kosovo plates? (Danas)
• Serbian officials’ reactions to arrest of M.B. in Zubin Potok (RTS, KoSSev, media)
• People’s Party started collecting signatures for referendum on Kosovo (Radio KIM)
• Vucic to Milatovic: Serbia a reliable partner to Montenegro (FoNet, N1)

Opinion:

• Vasic: There is a matrix in Kosovo that usurpers of Serb properties report owners for war crimes (KoSSev, Radio KIM)
• Janjic: Possible demonstrations, barricades, and even armed conflicts in the north of Kosovo (Beta, N1)

International:

• Former Kosovar President Thaci Opens War Crimes Trial With Plea Of Not Guilty (RFE)
• Milatovic claims victory in Montenegro as longtime leader Djukanovic concedes (BIRN)
• Views of Kosovo Women Often Unheard on TV, Attacked Online (Balkan Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

The Presidency and the Assembly lit up in blue on World Autism Day (media)